Out of Office (Maternity Leave)

Shhh...Baby is Sleeping! This blog will stay silent for a while until I fully recover! ;)

Noah Kim finally arrived on March 23rd weighing in at 6lbs 12oz and 21" (he was 4 days late!) I had relatively a smooth pregnancy until we found out at week 35 that the baby was measuring really small. The doctor put me a mandatory bedrest until I give birth so it was pretty miserable not to do anything but to stay home. I had anticipated baby #2 would arrive sooner but I finally had to induce him out on Friday morning and took me nearly 11 hrs for my cervix to open up!

Now that I'm a mom of two boys, my mission on earth is complete! yes, no more babies although I'd be extremely tempted to have a girl. ;) Seriously.. if I looked this HOT nursing my own child, I'd be so willing to pop out 3 more! lol!

  Please remain patient with us and we'll be back shortly! :)

I can tell it's gonna be a good day...

Can't believe it's already first week of February! At this rate, I'll be popping out the baby in no time! I was supposed to be on a maternity leave after our last Oct. wedding but that hasn't happened quite yet since we've been busy booking 2012 weddings and currently working on a side project which we'll launch shortly. I'll reveal the big news sometime in Feb, hopefully!

As we look back 2011, it has been such a blessing & successful year for MBS and we're so grateful for our amazing clients who have trusted us from the start. I asked anything & everything productions to put together a sweet video from some of the 2011 weddings we worked on together. The bride gave us a thank you speech to our team during the wedding and so glad they were able to capture it! :)  We also want to thank our wonderful clients who posted glowing testimonials from Project Wedding & Wedding Wire  and we have been selected to receive the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2012 for Wedding Planning.  It means so much that our previous clients think highly of our services and we'll be sure to work with the same attitude & passion for 2012 events.
Hope this video will also make you want to have a good day with us. ;) I fell in love with Priscilla Ahn after going to her concert back in 2009 and have been a huge fan of her music ever since. I think this song depicts the reason why we do the things we do.  As cliche as it may sound, our desire is simply for our brides to have a good day and leave all the worries to us.
Have a good day, everyone!


My Bride Story Weddings & Events from Anything&Everything Productions on Vimeo.

Anna & Frank Tie The Knot!

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had an amazing holiday season with family & friends!
I'm so excited to start off the new year with Anna & Frank's wedding images captured by He & She Photo.  They were a dream to work with and so thankful for Anna's generosity, kindness, thoughtful heart as we developed our friendship throughout the planning process.  Anna was one of my hardcore DIY brides and she managed to make 300+ paper flowers, handmade all of her stationery designs; including 5-8 page story book wedding invites and even built a custom chalkboard/escort card display from scratch! The wedding ceremony and reception took place at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with Patina Group by our side (yum!) while our staff managed over 310+ guests. It was a big celebration but glad to say everything went well without a hitch.  Here are some lovely photos captured by He & She Photo. Enjoy!

Absolutely love these two images of Anna. Looking back these photos makes me miss her so much!

Flower Allie did it again by creating the most beautiful white fluffy bridal bouquet! It matched Anna's dress perfectly!

I put these two images together because the BM bouquets and Anna's BHLDN shoes were almost identical! Allison
should be proud for making these gorgeous bouquets because she didn't even see the shoes Anna was wearing! ;)  

A huge props to the bridal party for making this wedding so memorable and fun!

Since we had over 300+ guests, I didn't want to stick with all floral arrangements for every table. Plus we were on a tight budget for decor so I came up with an idea of adding Anna's delicate flowers onto clear vases with a help of super hot glue.  Who knew these paper flowers can look so classy and elegant, not to mention budget-friendly? ;) A typical ballroom setting doesn't necessarily mean go all out on flowers and linens. This wedding is a perfect example of keeping things simple and clean.

We even had a silhouette artist come to keep the guests entertained!

I think almost 50+ paper flowers were pinned in to their bridal party backdrop. It wasn't easy transporting 300+ flowers,
these babies were carefully stored in my SUV & Anna's dad's moving truck the night before the wedding!

Hopefully these images will make you want to have crafting sessions with your bridesmaids. :) It was a true labor of love but watching these two love birds fully enjoy the day, not caring about anything else was a pure joy on my end.  Here's a glimpse of their special day captured by Cloud 9 Cinematography.

Anna + Frank from Jason Kim on Vimeo.

Event Styling Tips (Part 2): Non-Floral Decor

Hope you're enjoyed our previous post on event styling tips. Today, we'll be covering non-floral decor and how these elements play a huge role in transforming your space.  Non-floral decor refers to all of the elements that contribute to the overall esthetics. This includes, but is not limited to lighting, draping, tables, chairs, candles, unique furniture pieces, paper goods and etc.  
Before I continue on with this post, here's a before & after picture which may shock you! :)

BEFORE

AFTER

J & J's wedding was back in 2009 at LA Congregational Church and they had hired me to transform a typical church function into an elegant reception space. We had a few different companies come in to cover draping, lighting, linens and chairs and the result was breathtaking.

Via Martha Stewart Weddings

Please don't misunderstand me. I LOVE flowers and I get extremely picky whenever we have floral mock up meetings but I do believe that flowers alone won't do the magic.  If you rely solely on flowers, your only option to make your decor more impactful is to keep making your flowers bigger and bigger. Not only does that look often become heavy and overwhelming, but it becomes expensive.

Again, here are some few examples to show you why rentals play a huge role in changing the aesthetics of your celebration.
Adamson House Outdoor Wedding: Instead of going with the chiavari chairs, we used rustic tables & natural wood folding chairs to keep the natural/casual ambiance.

Photo Credit: Sarah Yates

Casa Del Mar Wedding:
We had all white flowers and gave a little contrast by using charcoal gray linens and silver chiavari chairs. We carefully placed each gardenia on silver beaded chargers to complete the look.

Photo Credit: Taek Photography

This ballroom was completely draped in white fabric for a clean, sophisticated feel. Tables were a mix of rounds with gray linens and white lacquered rectangles. NOTE:  JL Designs was the creative brain behind this gorgeous event.

Photo Credit: Meg Perotti

A Winter Wonderland theme photoshoot designed by Couture Events. Again, they kept the flowers to a minimum and let non-floral decor shine. So in love with these clear ghost chairs!

Photo Credit: Scott Lawrence Photography

Craven's Estate Wedding:
Due to our budget, we only rented 8-9 vintage pieces from The Found and they were worth every penny! We later moved some of the couches to create a beautiful sweet heart table for the couple.

Jonathan Club Wedding:
What about adding some chic white lounge furniture during cocktail hour for your guests to mingle?

Photo Credit: Taek Photography

I stumbled upon this image from Apartment Therapy a while back and took my breath away. It's elegant, dramatic and just simply gorgeous.

Ok.  These examples are nice but Esther, what if we're on an extreme tight budget? We can't afford to rent these items for our wedding. Any other tips you'd recommend? Part 3 is coming up for all you savvy DIY brides! Stay Tuned!

Event Styling Tips and Tricks (Part 1)

I get asked quite often where I rent and purchase my decor props & rental pieces from fellow vendors out there, so today, I wanted to cover some basic event styling tips with you. Hope this post will also push brides to think outside the box and think about creatively using their venue space.

One of the main jobs I take seriously is styling different stations such as the escort card display table, dessert bar, sign-in table, drinks station and etc. Uniquely setting these displays can definitely set the mood and excite the guests as they anticipate the wedding they're about to experience.  If done right, it cohesively pulls the look together to match the overall ambiance and details you're trying to achieve.
I honestly think rentals including tables, chairs, lounge furniture, decor furnishings and dance floor can play a huge role and can contribute even more than flowers and lighting.  But I would only suggest rental pieces that would be worth renting after carefully evaluating your overall budget.

Before you add any rental items to the invoice...
Scout out the venue carefully and see if you can find any unique decor pieces/furniture you can incorporate.  I know some venues are pretty strict with moving their furnishings but if you kindly ask the staff, you never know the kind of feedback you'll receive. hey, it doesn't hurt to at least ask!
Here are some examples to show you what I've done in the past that worked.. Of course, for free but with our labor of love! 
We turned La Venta Inn's custom made coffee hut into a dessert bar station. I knew this coffee hut had more potential than to display coffee cups!  I believe this was the first time they had seen their coffee hut turned into a dessert bar and the staff loved the way we set up everything. 

Photo Credit: Perpixel Photography

Polaroid Photobooth station at La Venta Inn
Since the bride wanted a relaxed, cozy atmosphere, I kindly asked if we can move one of the sofas and coffee table in the bridal room to the courtyard.  The guests loved the idea of taking pictures behind the beautiful water fountain as their backdrop.
 
Ceremony set up at the Viceroy
The venue itself had a modern, sophisticated decor so I really wanted to let the venue shine.  The flowers were kept to a minimum and we used three of their white high boys to put flowers on top.  We also took their outside lounge sofas inside the ballroom for guests to feel right at home.

Photo Credit: Hazelnut Photography

Candy Station at the Craven's Estate
Going along with this couple's book theme wedding (they met while studying together) the groom had purchased an old library catalog from his school. It catalog fit in perfectly in the Craven Estate's built in bookshelf and we filled the drawers with different colored jelly beans & candy.  Guests were also encouraged to write well wishes on "library cards" and place them in the drawers. Adding some flowers was a perfect touch, no? :)

Photo Credit: Heather Kincaid

Cake Table at the Heritage Museum
You would not believe where I found this white dresser from! Inside the women's restroom! Ha! I honestly didn't think they would allow our staff to move it but they said 'yes'! 

Cake Display at the DryBar
Again, we kindly asked if we can use their yellow side tables together

Escort Card display at the London, West Hollywood
As soon as I saw the gold trim mirror at the lobby, I knew this would be a perfect spot for the escort card table. Sparkles, floating candles and feather centerpiece? Yes, please!

OK. What if the venue isn't flexible or doesn't provide anything except the space? This is when you want to start looking into adding rental pieces that would make a statement...

Part 2 is coming up! Stay tuned! I'll be covering draping, lighting, linens and other rentals.

Some of my favorite fashion blogs

What? Is Esther blogging about fashion? If you have been following our blog for a while, you know I rarely talk anything related to everyday fashion or beauty tips. Today, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite fashion blogs I stalk. I seriously have a girl crush on these ladies and you'll see the reason why.
If you haven't heard of Wendy' lookbook yet, you're totally missing out! I'm sure you'll find her pairings very inspirational especially for this year's fall season. Please head over to her blog & her AMAZING youtube videos and you'll instantly be stalking her videos just like me! :)

Via Wendy's Lookbook

 Another awesome blog I follow is Jean from Extra Petite.  Her blog is more geared towards petite sized working women and I find her blog extremely helpful since she lists all the clothing/accessories/shoes that are on sale. Who would have thought this black cocktail dress she's wearing is from H&M?

via Extra Petite

 I also absolutely adore Kendi from Kendi Everyday. I love that her style posts are both relatable and affordable!

via Kendi Everyday

 If you're looking for perfect outfits for your e-session, why not browse through these blogs and get some inspirations before the shoot?  Any pregger fashion blogs I should be checking out? ;) Can't believe in a few weeks, I'll be starting my 3rd trimester!